Basra Calm as al-Sadr Pulls in Militia

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Basra Calm as al-Sadr Pulls in Militia
March 31, 2008
Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Baghdad (dpa) - Relative calm was returning to Baghdad and Basra March 31 after radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr ordered his fighters off the streets, heralding an end to six days of fighting with government troops.

In Baghdad, Iraqi authorities lifted a three-day curfew from 0600 local time but a ban on vehicles remains in Shiite-dominated districts of Sadr City, Shula and Kazimiyah.

Al-Sadr ordered his Mahdi Army militia to stop fighting government forces and urged them to cooperate to stop "Iraqi bloodshed" and "achieve security."

The cleric, believed to be staying in Iran, called on the government to apply the general amnesty law, end random raids targeting his loyalists and release detainees.

The government welcomed the move but said the crackdown on "lawbreakers" would continue.


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